Appearance: Brown hair, cyan eyes, keen and slim, serious face all the time. 6 feet
Daily routine: Wakes up early in the morning, goes to Trade Guild, trades goods and manages stores that sell goods to people in the streets.
Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: Not humorous, and serious all the time. Sticks everything to money and VERY VERY SUPER serious about financial matters. I"M STINGY!!!!
Past/individual History: My great grandfather was a bishop but was deprived of his status and became a 3rd Estate. My gradfather and father were great merchants and handed over the shops and fortune to me. My wife died 1 year ago when we were just married.
Family: I am a widower and am living with father and mother.
Social relations with your own and other classes (people you deal with or know about in other classes, AND your opinions and feelings about them): I sometimes meet many clergymen and nobles, for tax problems. I think they are simply BLESSED! They just relax on their chair all the time and earn just enough money.
Religion: Catholic
Education: Very-well educated, compared to the other 3rd-Estates.
Style of speaking in France: I can speak both slang and Paris style.
Languages you speak: French, a little bit of Portugese and English
Main privileges and/or conflicts: I am very wealthy, and my job enables me to meet different classes of people. But I'm very annoyed at the fact 10% of the fortune I earn has to be given to the church, no matter why.
Portrait (Mr. Barrons changed his mind-you must have a portrait)
La Merde!!! I'm telling you, today was not my day. I lost one of my shops!:
Today is another busy day. I woke up at 7 and got dressed with the outfit Martin (my servant boy) had laundered last night. What have I got for breakfast today? Uh, nothing special. A bowl of beef soup with boiled potatoes, slices of garlic baguettes and wine. Having finished my breakfast, I sat down at my working desk and signed a pile of documents about the shops I own. At 8 am, I left my home for the street market. I have got things to deal with my shops and tradesmen there. The streets were already filled with crowds of residents, traders and visitors. The smell of baking breads from bakeries poked my nose. Ah, I’m already hungry! I could also see many laborers on their way to workshops and shop owners preparing to begin selling their whatever-they-got for another day. I have got 4 shops in total in Paris. One is a wine shop: many customers, mostly the nobles visit our shops to buy and collect vinous liquors they enjoy everyday. Oh, where do I get the supplies? I trade with the best wine processors Bourgogne (a best place to grow wine) and treat only the best kinds of wines. No wonder the wine shop is full of customers all day. Two are grocery stores. Obviously, these shops treat a wide variety of goods: from foods to tools. Similar to wine shops, I always try my best to get supplies of only the best products to sell. The last shop is the most interesting one. It is a “tax bribing” shop! Its job is apparently to bribe the government officials who are responsible for tax affairs. One person can save quite a lot of money by bribing officials but it’s a really dangerous task. If the government official you tried to bribe is not a corrupt person, you can lose a lot of money and even go to jail. By the way, I have an expert eye of spotting the corrupt ones in an instance. Therefore, many other bourgeois come to me to leave that “saving money” task to me. I know many corrupt officials and I will bribe them for my customers and my customers give me some money. After inspecting my 3 shops to see how they operate and advising the shop owners I employed, I headed to a restaurant to have a quick lunch. One more shop to go. As soon as I paid for my lunch, I left for the smallest shop in the market, cringed at the very corner, so it’s not conspicuous enough and not a lot of people pay attention to it. But today was different. I could see one tax official with two armed soldiers inspecting my shop owner. I suddenly became very unnerved. Something was going wrong. I had to do something to find out what is the problem. I quickly accosted the official in a polite manner. “Good afternoon, sir, may I help you out of any problem?” The official looked very keen. He had sharp razing eyes with a curved nose. “You the one responsible for this shop?” “Yes, sir. Any problem?” He did not reply but nodded to the two soldiers, who then grabbed each of my arm. “You are arrested for tax bribing for more than 20 times.” I panicked. I had to do something otherwise I’m going to jail; bereft of all my fortune my family has accumulated for almost 100 years! Huh, wait, the soldiers were only grabbing my arms, looking as if they wanted something. I quickly looked at the official. He was clearing his throat and looking directly at me. Ah-hah, all right, I knew what you wanted. Maybe this day is not the last day for me! Hey, this official guy is actually the most putrid person I have ever met! He disgusted me. “Sir, is it the money that you want?” “Well, you are not completely right, but you can say that. I want to be quite lenient to a young magnate who is wealthy already.” “How much should I..?” “Not only me, but you also have to shut them up.” He pointed to two soldiers, who already had let go of my arms and were giggling. Ok, this is not fair but would be far better than going to jail and getting deprived of all my fortune. “Would 100 livres do for you?” “And for soldiers?” “20 each.” The official quickly rolled his eyes, then he nodded. “Ok. That will do. But you know, I have already got orders to search you shop. That means you cannot continue your dirty business anymore. Did you get what I said?” Oh, no.. I really earn a lot of money from this! “Sir, could you do anything to help..?” “I’m afraid this is out of my hand. The government already spotted you and it’s difficult even to prevent you going to jail. This is all the right I have got.” “Ok, sir. Thank you very much.” “Have a good day.” After they have left, I gritted my teeth. Well, fine. I had to quit. I told the shop owner to disorganize all the shop works and to close it from tomorrow. I came back home with heavy footsteps. I lost an important factor of my fortune today… I guess I would have to think of something else to start business with…
I’m very happy and satisfied. All of my businesses are going so well I don’t feel bad anymore about the lost shop. Did I lose it one month ago? Or was it two? Never mind. All I need to care about is how to manage my shops well to keep these businesses going. I also find myself very lucky these days. 3 days ago, when I was checking my sale list in one of my shops, a mute female peasant(well, looked almost like a beggar) with dirty clothes sold one jewelry and rapier for 4 livres. And I found that jewelry is actually much more valuable than just 4 livres. After I went to a pawnshop, I found out it was worth almost a thousand livres! This is the kind of ring only the royals would put on! Where and how on earth did that mute peasant get that from? Too bad for her but I made myself a huge fortune.
Dude, why are things going so well these days? Other than my business, I also heard of a thing I should feel happiness from. The king is finally summoning all the estates for the Estates General. I think this is a fantastic chance to raise the 3rd Estate’s voice to show that we are very…very disgruntled with the unfair taxes. I am ABSOLUTELY not happy about my money that I’ve earned so hard going back to nobles and clergymen without any legitimate reason. I should also volunteer for joining the Estates General. Nobody would feel more anger than me about losing money! Ha!
Not only I am hopeful about getting away from those so many RIDICULOUS tax duties but all the 3rd Estate people around me are also very happy to hear Estates General will be held. But there are some people who worry the reactions of the nobles and clergymen. On the way back to home, I dropped in a bar to soak my neck with some bear, and I met a neatly dressed young man sitting alone in a table, drinking some wine. I asked if I could sit at the same table. His name was…wait…ooh, yes. Jack Burrel…No, was it Jacque Barret? Anyway, he was a student at the College Royale, majoring in medicine. He said his father is a general but abandoned his wife, who is Jack’s mother. We discussed many things (I broached matters about money, mostly) and then the topic went about the Estates General. I asked him first, “Don’t you feel hopeful? This is actually the first time the king wants to hear our opinions. We have some chance to modify some of these Estates laws and not have to pay some taxes!” Surprisingly enough, his reaction was closemouthed. Looking at me amazed, he calmly said, “I don’t think you know about the voting system in details, sir.” “Huh? The voting system?” “Yes, any new suggestion or cannon need to be outvoted for approval.” “And, what’s the problem about that?” “Only three votes are given to three Estates. One by one.” “Huh? Oh, then…” “The nobles and clergymen surely don’t want to stop the Third Estate paying taxes for them. They are going to exercise two votes to outvote the Third Estates for objection against the complaints.” “Gee…That IS unfair, boy. No more than 1.5% of population could outvote the rest 98%?!! C’est nul!!!” “I agree…That inefficiency is why Estates General has not been summoned for hundreds years.” “…” All my hope for the happy world with NO TAX has faded. All my happiness and fortune I was exultant with until the very moment of conversation have vaporized… I suddenly had no eagerness to talk with that so-neat-and-smart-that-I-wanted-to-smack-his-face student. I quickly said him goodbye and came back home… Ok…My great grandfather was a noble but this kind of society (Not only France, but all the Europe as well!)is very frustrating. The upper classes do whatever they want to do, not caring for the minorities’ (Wait! THEY are the minorities! We are 98% of the whole population!) opinions or requirements… Well, I am wealthy already, but it’s still unfair! I want to twist those pigs’ necks and crumple them bad enough they fit in a small rubbish bin in one of my shops!
Everyday is like hell. If I had known what the revolution would have caused so much pain in this country, I’d rather have wished this whole revolution lot would not have happened. It’s just like…running away from a wolf to meet a tiger. Apart from executing Louis and Antoinette, the revolution practically has barely brought beneficial changes to people’s lives. (Actually, I personally think people got carried away. No people deserve death penalty for repeating what other monarchs had done and for being extravagant.) After the General Estate crisis, many groundbreaking things happened. People rose against the Monarchy’s absolute power and stormed to Bastille. By forcing the monarchs out of power, the National Assembly enacted many new laws reformed many things. But I don’t think the country is going a right path…It’s changing too drastically and fast. France is having war with most of countries in Europe and is suffering from a great economic crisis. And this is not the end. What I want to complain, oh no, to blame about is the Committee of Public Safety, which is an emergency group set up by the Convention. It has an absolute power to run France and its method is extremely strict. One law that this emergency Committee had set up has completely shaken France. The Law of Suspects, which states anyone under suspicion of opposing the government can be arrested and put to prison, and even executed! My country, France, is now a country where a great number of people get killed each day and no one can believe anyone. At least France was not in a total chaos like that when Louis was in charge, was it? My shops are not an exception. Because of the government limiting the price of products despite the inflation, my business is not going very well. Also, the manager of my wine shop was one of the victims of the Law of Suspects, which caused me a lot of trouble looking for another appropriate manager. Also, one of the workers in my grocery shop had to join the army because of ‘Mass Levy,’ which requires all unmarried men to fight for France. Oh, I forgot to add…All married men need to support the army financially or by making weapons. I am giving my money to the army monthly…Not because I really want to do so but because I think I might be accused as a traitor. Gee…I really cannot believe anyone these days. I always need to keep my head down and live quietly. I am unnerved every moment I have eye contact with the others and that would be exactly same for the other people. Despite the heat of revolution, French streets are not that cheerful, huh. I was just a fool, ha ha. I think I was just an idealist. There is actually NO revolution. Revolution is just a…moving of power from one group to another. The revolution for democracy didn’t exist. The whole intention of revolution was to carry power from the monarchs to a few who led the revolution. The public were completely used and tricked and betrayed… I just want to go back to the old days… Those naïve and stupid monarchs did greater job rather than this bloody laws. I know an English writer who lives next to me. He owns quite a fortune…I think he is a spy from England, so I am trying to decide whether or not to accuse him or not… What shall I do? The life these days are just horrible…!
I used Pearl.Pearl
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Occupation: City Merchant
Social Class: 3rd Estate - Bourgeois
Financial situation: Moderately Rich
Appearance: Brown hair, cyan eyes, keen and slim, serious face all the time. 6 feet
Daily routine: Wakes up early in the morning, goes to Trade Guild, trades goods and manages stores that sell goods to people in the streets.
Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: Not humorous, and serious all the time. Sticks everything to money and VERY VERY SUPER serious about financial matters. I"M STINGY!!!!
Past/individual History: My great grandfather was a bishop but was deprived of his status and became a 3rd Estate. My gradfather and father were great merchants and handed over the shops and fortune to me. My wife died 1 year ago when we were just married.
Family: I am a widower and am living with father and mother.
Social relations with your own and other classes (people you deal with or know about in other classes, AND your opinions and feelings about them): I sometimes meet many clergymen and nobles, for tax problems. I think they are simply BLESSED! They just relax on their chair all the time and earn just enough money.
Religion: Catholic
Education: Very-well educated, compared to the other 3rd-Estates.
Style of speaking in France: I can speak both slang and Paris style.
Languages you speak: French, a little bit of Portugese and English
Main privileges and/or conflicts: I am very wealthy, and my job enables me to meet different classes of people. But I'm very annoyed at the fact 10% of the fortune I earn has to be given to the church, no matter why.
Portrait (Mr. Barrons changed his mind-you must have a portrait)
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=======================================================================Diary #1December 17th, 1788
La Merde!!! I'm telling you, today was not my day. I lost one of my shops!:
Today is another busy day. I woke up at 7 and got dressed with the outfit Martin (my servant boy) had laundered last night. What have I got for breakfast today? Uh, nothing special. A bowl of beef soup with boiled potatoes, slices of garlic baguettes and wine. Having finished my breakfast, I sat down at my working desk and signed a pile of documents about the shops I own. At 8 am, I left my home for the street market. I have got things to deal with my shops and tradesmen there. The streets were already filled with crowds of residents, traders and visitors. The smell of baking breads from bakeries poked my nose. Ah, I’m already hungry! I could also see many laborers on their way to workshops and shop owners preparing to begin selling their whatever-they-got for another day.
I have got 4 shops in total in Paris. One is a wine shop: many customers, mostly the nobles visit our shops to buy and collect vinous liquors they enjoy everyday. Oh, where do I get the supplies? I trade with the best wine processors Bourgogne (a best place to grow wine) and treat only the best kinds of wines. No wonder the wine shop is full of customers all day. Two are grocery stores. Obviously, these shops treat a wide variety of goods: from foods to tools. Similar to wine shops, I always try my best to get supplies of only the best products to sell. The last shop is the most interesting one. It is a “tax bribing” shop! Its job is apparently to bribe the government officials who are responsible for tax affairs. One person can save quite a lot of money by bribing officials but it’s a really dangerous task. If the government official you tried to bribe is not a corrupt person, you can lose a lot of money and even go to jail. By the way, I have an expert eye of spotting the corrupt ones in an instance. Therefore, many other bourgeois come to me to leave that “saving money” task to me. I know many corrupt officials and I will bribe them for my customers and my customers give me some money.
After inspecting my 3 shops to see how they operate and advising the shop owners I employed, I headed to a restaurant to have a quick lunch. One more shop to go. As soon as I paid for my lunch, I left for the smallest shop in the market, cringed at the very corner, so it’s not conspicuous enough and not a lot of people pay attention to it. But today was different. I could see one tax official with two armed soldiers inspecting my shop owner. I suddenly became very unnerved. Something was going wrong. I had to do something to find out what is the problem.
I quickly accosted the official in a polite manner.
“Good afternoon, sir, may I help you out of any problem?”
The official looked very keen. He had sharp razing eyes with a curved nose.
“You the one responsible for this shop?”
“Yes, sir. Any problem?”
He did not reply but nodded to the two soldiers, who then grabbed each of my arm.
“You are arrested for tax bribing for more than 20 times.”
I panicked. I had to do something otherwise I’m going to jail; bereft of all my fortune my family has accumulated for almost 100 years! Huh, wait, the soldiers were only grabbing my arms, looking as if they wanted something. I quickly looked at the official. He was clearing his throat and looking directly at me. Ah-hah, all right, I knew what you wanted. Maybe this day is not the last day for me! Hey, this official guy is actually the most putrid person I have ever met! He disgusted me.
“Sir, is it the money that you want?”
“Well, you are not completely right, but you can say that. I want to be quite lenient to a young magnate who is wealthy already.”
“How much should I..?”
“Not only me, but you also have to shut them up.”
He pointed to two soldiers, who already had let go of my arms and were giggling. Ok, this is not fair but would be far better than going to jail and getting deprived of all my fortune.
“Would 100 livres do for you?”
“And for soldiers?”
“20 each.”
The official quickly rolled his eyes, then he nodded.
“Ok. That will do. But you know, I have already got orders to search you shop. That means you cannot continue your dirty business anymore. Did you get what I said?”
Oh, no.. I really earn a lot of money from this!
“Sir, could you do anything to help..?”
“I’m afraid this is out of my hand. The government already spotted you and it’s difficult even to prevent you going to jail. This is all the right I have got.”
“Ok, sir. Thank you very much.”
“Have a good day.”
After they have left, I gritted my teeth. Well, fine. I had to quit. I told the shop owner to disorganize all the shop works and to close it from tomorrow. I came back home with heavy footsteps. I lost an important factor of my fortune today…
I guess I would have to think of something else to start business with…
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=========================================================================================================Diary #2
April 21th, 1789
I’m very happy and satisfied. All of my businesses are going so well I don’t feel bad anymore about the lost shop. Did I lose it one month ago? Or was it two? Never mind. All I need to care about is how to manage my shops well to keep these businesses going. I also find myself very lucky these days. 3 days ago, when I was checking my sale list in one of my shops, a mute female peasant(well, looked almost like a beggar) with dirty clothes sold one jewelry and rapier for 4 livres. And I found that jewelry is actually much more valuable than just 4 livres. After I went to a pawnshop, I found out it was worth almost a thousand livres! This is the kind of ring only the royals would put on! Where and how on earth did that mute peasant get that from? Too bad for her but I made myself a huge fortune.
Dude, why are things going so well these days? Other than my business, I also heard of a thing I should feel happiness from. The king is finally summoning all the estates for the Estates General. I think this is a fantastic chance to raise the 3rd Estate’s voice to show that we are very…very disgruntled with the unfair taxes. I am ABSOLUTELY not happy about my money that I’ve earned so hard going back to nobles and clergymen without any legitimate reason. I should also volunteer for joining the Estates General. Nobody would feel more anger than me about losing money! Ha!
Not only I am hopeful about getting away from those so many RIDICULOUS tax duties but all the 3rd Estate people around me are also very happy to hear Estates General will be held. But there are some people who worry the reactions of the nobles and clergymen. On the way back to home, I dropped in a bar to soak my neck with some bear, and I met a neatly dressed young man sitting alone in a table, drinking some wine. I asked if I could sit at the same table. His name was…wait…ooh, yes. Jack Burrel…No, was it Jacque Barret? Anyway, he was a student at the College Royale, majoring in medicine. He said his father is a general but abandoned his wife, who is Jack’s mother. We discussed many things (I broached matters about money, mostly) and then the topic went about the Estates General. I asked him first,
“Don’t you feel hopeful? This is actually the first time the king wants to hear our opinions. We have some chance to modify some of these Estates laws and not have to pay some taxes!” Surprisingly enough, his reaction was closemouthed. Looking at me amazed, he calmly said,
“I don’t think you know about the voting system in details, sir.”
“Huh? The voting system?”
“Yes, any new suggestion or cannon need to be outvoted for approval.”
“And, what’s the problem about that?”
“Only three votes are given to three Estates. One by one.”
“Huh? Oh, then…”
“The nobles and clergymen surely don’t want to stop the Third Estate paying taxes for them. They are going to exercise two votes to outvote the Third Estates for objection against the complaints.”
“Gee…That IS unfair, boy. No more than 1.5% of population could outvote the rest 98%?!! C’est nul!!!”
“I agree…That inefficiency is why Estates General has not been summoned for hundreds years.”
“…”
All my hope for the happy world with NO TAX has faded. All my happiness and fortune I was exultant with until the very moment of conversation have vaporized… I suddenly had no eagerness to talk with that so-neat-and-smart-that-I-wanted-to-smack-his-face student. I quickly said him goodbye and came back home… Ok…My great grandfather was a noble but this kind of society (Not only France, but all the Europe as well!)is very frustrating. The upper classes do whatever they want to do, not caring for the minorities’ (Wait! THEY are the minorities! We are 98% of the whole population!) opinions or requirements… Well, I am wealthy already, but it’s still unfair! I want to twist those pigs’ necks and crumple them bad enough they fit in a small rubbish bin in one of my shops!
I used Kenji and Nelson. KenjiNelson
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Diary #3 The Reign of Terror
Everyday is like hell. If I had known what the revolution would have caused so much pain in this country, I’d rather have wished this whole revolution lot would not have happened. It’s just like…running away from a wolf to meet a tiger. Apart from executing Louis and Antoinette, the revolution practically has barely brought beneficial changes to people’s lives. (Actually, I personally think people got carried away. No people deserve death penalty for repeating what other monarchs had done and for being extravagant.)
After the General Estate crisis, many groundbreaking things happened. People rose against the Monarchy’s absolute power and stormed to Bastille. By forcing the monarchs out of power, the National Assembly enacted many new laws reformed many things. But I don’t think the country is going a right path…It’s changing too drastically and fast. France is having war with most of countries in Europe and is suffering from a great economic crisis. And this is not the end.
What I want to complain, oh no, to blame about is the Committee of Public Safety, which is an emergency group set up by the Convention. It has an absolute power to run France and its method is extremely strict. One law that this emergency Committee had set up has completely shaken France. The Law of Suspects, which states anyone under suspicion of opposing the government can be arrested and put to prison, and even executed! My country, France, is now a country where a great number of people get killed each day and no one can believe anyone. At least France was not in a total chaos like that when Louis was in charge, was it?
My shops are not an exception. Because of the government limiting the price of products despite the inflation, my business is not going very well. Also, the manager of my wine shop was one of the victims of the Law of Suspects, which caused me a lot of trouble looking for another appropriate manager. Also, one of the workers in my grocery shop had to join the army because of ‘Mass Levy,’ which requires all unmarried men to fight for France. Oh, I forgot to add…All married men need to support the army financially or by making weapons. I am giving my money to the army monthly…Not because I really want to do so but because I think I might be accused as a traitor. Gee…I really cannot believe anyone these days. I always need to keep my head down and live quietly. I am unnerved every moment I have eye contact with the others and that would be exactly same for the other people. Despite the heat of revolution, French streets are not that cheerful, huh.
I was just a fool, ha ha. I think I was just an idealist. There is actually NO revolution. Revolution is just a…moving of power from one group to another. The revolution for democracy didn’t exist. The whole intention of revolution was to carry power from the monarchs to a few who led the revolution. The public were completely used and tricked and betrayed… I just want to go back to the old days… Those naïve and stupid monarchs did greater job rather than this bloody laws.
I know an English writer who lives next to me. He owns quite a fortune…I think he is a spy from England, so I am trying to decide whether or not to accuse him or not… What shall I do? The life these days are just horrible…!
I used Pearl.Pearl